This chapter examines the question of how the nation would eventually respond to the increasing numbers of free blacks as well as the impending end of legalized African slavery. It considers the ...
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This chapter examines the question of how the nation would eventually respond to the increasing numbers of free blacks as well as the impending end of legalized African slavery. It considers the popularity of black colonization and why this effort at a second removal of a large population was defeated. In particular, it looks at the two-year period in the first congressional session during the Lincoln administration, when the idea of black colonization seemingly had its greatest momentum yet suffered its most resounding defeat. The chapter first provides an overview of colonization schemes in the first two years of the Lincoln administration, Abraham Lincoln's foreign policy adventures, and his Emancipation Proclamation before discussing how the ambitions of American majorities for an all-white nation clashed with the realities of making such an event a reality in the context of a relatively weak American state.Less

A Second Removal? : The Rise and Defeat of Black Colonization

Paul Frymer

Published in print: 2017-05-02

This chapter examines the question of how the nation would eventually respond to the increasing numbers of free blacks as well as the impending end of legalized African slavery. It considers the popularity of black colonization and why this effort at a second removal of a large population was defeated. In particular, it looks at the two-year period in the first congressional session during the Lincoln administration, when the idea of black colonization seemingly had its greatest momentum yet suffered its most resounding defeat. The chapter first provides an overview of colonization schemes in the first two years of the Lincoln administration, Abraham Lincoln's foreign policy adventures, and his Emancipation Proclamation before discussing how the ambitions of American majorities for an all-white nation clashed with the realities of making such an event a reality in the context of a relatively weak American state.

This chapter deals with Russwurm's about-face from being a critic to a supporter of black colonization in Africa. He saw the establishment of a colony in Africa as a way for blacks to escape the ...
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This chapter deals with Russwurm's about-face from being a critic to a supporter of black colonization in Africa. He saw the establishment of a colony in Africa as a way for blacks to escape the constant discrimination they face in the United States. Despite the avalanche of abuse heaped upon him and the colonization project, Russwurm not only remained convinced of the rightness of his decision but also repeatedly expressed confidence that his critics would soon see the errors of their ways. He was at times self-righteous. Moreover, he saw growing evidence that the colonization argument was gaining ground among the free people of color, evidence no one else had apparently discerned.Less

Quitting America and Its Cost

Winston James

Published in print: 2010-08-30

This chapter deals with Russwurm's about-face from being a critic to a supporter of black colonization in Africa. He saw the establishment of a colony in Africa as a way for blacks to escape the constant discrimination they face in the United States. Despite the avalanche of abuse heaped upon him and the colonization project, Russwurm not only remained convinced of the rightness of his decision but also repeatedly expressed confidence that his critics would soon see the errors of their ways. He was at times self-righteous. Moreover, he saw growing evidence that the colonization argument was gaining ground among the free people of color, evidence no one else had apparently discerned.

This book examines the politics of the United States' westward expansion, showing how the government's regulation of population movements on the frontier, both settlement and removal, advanced ...
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This book examines the politics of the United States' westward expansion, showing how the government's regulation of population movements on the frontier, both settlement and removal, advanced national aspirations for empire and promoted the formation of a white settler nation. The book details how a government that struggled to exercise plenary power used federal land policies to assert authority over the direction of expansion by engineering the pace and patterns of settlement and to control the movement of populations. At times, the government mobilized populations for compact settlement in strategically important areas of the frontier; at other times, policies were designed to actively restrain settler populations in order to prevent violence, international conflict, and breakaway states. The book examines how these settlement patterns helped construct a dominant racial vision for America by incentivizing and directing the movement of white European settlers onto indigenous and diversely populated lands. The book pays close attention to the failures as well, from the lack of further expansion into Latin America to the defeat of the black colonization movement. It reveals the lasting and profound significance government settlement policies had for the nation, both for establishing America as dominantly white and for restricting broader aspirations for empire in lands that could not be so racially engineered.Less

Building an American Empire : The Era of Territorial and Political Expansion

Paul Frymer

Published in print: 2017-05-02

This book examines the politics of the United States' westward expansion, showing how the government's regulation of population movements on the frontier, both settlement and removal, advanced national aspirations for empire and promoted the formation of a white settler nation. The book details how a government that struggled to exercise plenary power used federal land policies to assert authority over the direction of expansion by engineering the pace and patterns of settlement and to control the movement of populations. At times, the government mobilized populations for compact settlement in strategically important areas of the frontier; at other times, policies were designed to actively restrain settler populations in order to prevent violence, international conflict, and breakaway states. The book examines how these settlement patterns helped construct a dominant racial vision for America by incentivizing and directing the movement of white European settlers onto indigenous and diversely populated lands. The book pays close attention to the failures as well, from the lack of further expansion into Latin America to the defeat of the black colonization movement. It reveals the lasting and profound significance government settlement policies had for the nation, both for establishing America as dominantly white and for restricting broader aspirations for empire in lands that could not be so racially engineered.